State Legislative Tracker: Legislators in legal trouble

Edited by Joel Williams
This week’s tracker includes a partisan count update and a look at the convictions of two state legislators.

Weekly highlight

Last week, thirteen states began their legislative sessions. Here is a brief look at issues making headlines across the country:

Arizona: The Arizona State Legislature wishes to expand the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) program to allow families more education options. The ESA allows for eligible families to spend an allotted amount of money for educational purposes such as private school tuition, private tutors, textbooks and education therapy. The legislature will vote on at least four school-choice bills this session to expand the ESA program. One expansion would provide for more military families. Currently, students of active-duty military families are able to participate in the program after a year in public school; however, students whose parents were killed in action are not eligible for ESA. Rep. Sonny Borrelli (R), a retired Marine, said that "[m]ilitary families are the last-thought-of people when transferring around" and that relocated military families are put on waiting lists after transferring. Borrelli is sponsoring a bill to allow for students of active-duty military families to be eligible immediately for ESA and for ESA to be available for families of those killed in action. Rep. David Livingston (R) proposed a bill to benefit students with special needs and their families. Although students with special needs benefited from the original ESA law, they must spend a year in public school before being eligible. Livingston believes his refinements would better suit the needs of these students and would also "allow the siblings to attend schools that make better geographic sense" rather than families driving up to 25 miles for two different schools. Rep. Debbie Lesko (R) is focusing on a bill for expanding ESA eligibility for low-income students. Rep. Warren Petersen's (R) bill would allow school districts, not just state districts, to grant students an ESA based on a school board vote. Petersen said in an email that his bill "will allow districts to decide if they want to implement an ESA program in their district," and that he is interested in expanding school choice and providing education options for students and parents.[1][2][3]

Massachusetts: Fifth Suffolk District Rep. Carlos Henriquez (D) is facing calls to resign as well as possible disciplinary proceedings following his conviction on assault and battery charges last Wednesday. A jury convicted Henriquez of two counts of assault and battery, but acquitted him of a third count as well as witness intimidation and larceny of a SIM card. In July of last year, Henriquez was involved in an incident with a woman he was dating, who testified that Henriquez held her down and punched her for refusing to have sex with him, then drove her to Boston, where she escaped from the car. District Judge Michele Hogan, who told Henriquez that she was "concerned that [he was] not remorseful," sentenced Henriquez to two and a half years in a house of correction, which she suspended to six months served. Colleague Elizabeth Poirier (R) called on Henriquez to resign immediately, saying in a statement that "it is time for him to leave this institution which should in no way condone violence against women." Fellow Democrats Gov. Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh joined in with their own statements, with the latter calling Wednesday "a sad day for the Fifth Suffolk district." House Speaker Robert DeLeo (D) said on Wednesday that if Henriquez did not resign, he could recommend that the Ethics Committee take disciplinary action, which could end in expulsion. The next day, the House voted to grant the Ethics Committee subpoena powers, suggesting a possible investigation is in the works. Stephanie Soriano-Mills, Henriquez's attorney, told the State House News Service Thursday evening that her client is looking to appeal and is considering his options, including resignation. Henriquez has not yet commented publicly on the conviction or his future plans.[4][5][6][7]

New York: Rep. Eric Stevenson (D) of District 79 was removed from his position in the New York State Assembly after he was found guilty of one count of honest services fraud, two counts of bribery and one count of extortion on January 13, 2014. Less than an hour after his conviction, Stevenson's official page was removed from the Assembly website. Last April, Stevenson was arrested and charged with taking $22,000 in bribes from four Russian businessmen that were looking to open daycare centers for seniors. Stevenson was heard on audio recordings using code words to discuss money, and was also heard offering to introduce legislation that would have imposed a three-year moratorium on competing senior centers. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Kreiger said that the legislation would have "doubled or tripled the value of the Russians' new businesses." The four Russian businessmen have all since plead guilty to conspiracy for their involvement in the scheme. After the guilty verdict was handed down, Stevenson said, "I want to reserve my thoughts and my feelings. I don’t feel down. We’ll see what the future brings." U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska has set sentencing for May 20. Stevenson faces up to 55 years in prison on all four counts.[8][9][10][11]

As of today, January 21, 2014, the following figures represent the cumulative partisan breakdown of the 50 state senates and 49 state houses. In the 50 states, Republicans currently control 51.7% of all seats while Democrats hold 46.5%. All told, Republicans control 57 chambers while Democrats are the majority in 40 chambers. Two chambers are nonpartisan.

State Houses

The partisan composition of state houses refers to which party holds the majority of seats in the state house or the lower level of each state legislature. Altogether, in the 49 state houses, there are 5,415 state representatives.

As of January 21, 2014, the breakdown of chamber control by party is as follows:

20 chambers

29 chambers

Cumulative numbers

As of March 2, 2015, 5,357 state representatives are affiliated with either the Republican or Democratic parties. This total is updated monthly.

Party

Number of

Percentage

Democratic state representatives

2,343

43.4%

Republican state representatives

3,014

55.5%

Independent state representatives

19

0.35%

Third party representatives

6

0.11%

Vacancies

25

0.46%

Vacancies

As of March 2, 2015, there are 25 state house vacancies in 14 different states. This total is updated monthly.

Independents

As of March 2, 2015, there are 25 state representatives in 10 states identifying as independents or parties other than Democratic and Republican. Three members of the Maine House of Representatives are non-voting Native American representatives. This total is updated monthly.

The Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico and South Carolina senates also typically hold elections in odd years. However, senators are elected to 4-year terms in those states and those will not be up for election again until 2015.

1090 of the country's 1,972 state senate seats are up for re-election in November 2014, and 4,958 of the country's 5,415 state house seats are up for re-election. Altogether, 6,048 of the country's 7,387 state legislative seats are up for re-election on November 4, 2014.

Primary Information

The state legislative filing deadlines and primary dates are as follows:

Note: Ballot access is a complicated issue. The dates in the table below are primarily for candidates filing for access to the primary. For more detailed information about each state's qualification requirements -- including all relevant ballot access dates for the primary and general election -- click to our detailed pages in the state column.

The seat was vacant following Paul Bookout's (D) resignation on August 21, 2013, after he was fined $8,000 by the Arkansas Ethics Commission for spending campaign funds on personal items.[45]

A special election for the position of Arkansas State Senate District 21 was called for January 14, with a primary on October 8, 2013. A primary runoff took place on November 12, 2013. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was September 6, 2013.[45]